10.2 - Form of the present tense
Verb endings in the present tense in Ukrainian are of two main types, and on this basis verbs are organised into two groups known as conjugations. The stem and endings of a verb will change according to the conjugation it belongs to. To give you an idea of this, examples of different types of verb are given below.
| 1st conjugation | 2nd conjugation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| казати to say |
мати to have |
спішити to hurry |
любити to love |
клеїти to glue |
|
| я | кажу | маю | спішу | люблю | клею |
| ти | кажеш | маєш | спішиш | любиш | клеїш |
| він/вона/воно | каже | має | спішить | любить | клеїть |
| ми | кажемо | маємо | спішимо | любимо | клеїмо |
| ви | кажете | маєте | спішите | любите | клеїте |
| вони | кажуть | мають | спішать | люблять | клеять |
As you can see, the endings for the different conjugations and types of verbs have a lot in common, so should be easy to recognise when encountered in a text. The conjugations are covered in greater detail on pages 10.3 and 10.4. Before you go to these pages, try doing Exercise 10.2A.